Otto Sharmer Theory U

ABC presents a seminar by the renowned systems thinker Otto Sharmer from MIT.

THEORY U: PRESENCING FOR GLOBAL CHALLENGES

We welcomed Claus-Otto Scharmer of MIT. Scharmer that holds a doctorate from University Witten-Herdecke where he studied global development with peace-and-conflict scholar Johan Galtung. Early he conducted a pioneering organizational study of management education as an aesthetic process. This catapulted him as the main influencer of management consulting of, among others, McKinsey Germany in the 1990’s.

As a collaborator of Peter Senge of MIT, he later made path-breaking contributions to US mainstream theories on innovation reconnecting to European and Eastern philosophies. His successful “Theory U” thus draws on both practical experiences and philosophical insights from Kant, Schiller, and Steiner.

Scharmer introduces a number of arts-based methods such as visual practices and social theater to empower change and a recent study recommends Scharmer´s “presencing”-concept as a radical rethinking of management education.